


but what IS love

by justjeongie



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:07:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22568323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justjeongie/pseuds/justjeongie
Summary: Chaeyoung really wants to know.
Relationships: Kim Dahyun/Son Chaeyoung
Kudos: 28





	but what IS love

“Did your mom make popcorn?” 

“No, I already told you it’s just us tonight.” 

“But she still could’ve made the popcorn before she left.” Dahyun plopped down on the couch with a coke can in one hand and a bag of licorice in the other. Chaeyoung was yelling at her from the kitchen, trying to get the rest of their weekly movie snacks together before Dahyun lost her patience completely. “What are we watching again?”

“For the millionth time, The Notebook.”

“Gross, couldn’t we watch something more fun??” Dahyun whined and threw herself further into the couch. Chaeyoung came around the corner with a few bowls balanced in her arms before placing them on the table and sitting in the empty space next to Dahyun. 

“I like cheesy movies, you know that. It was my turn to pick.” 

Every Friday night, Chaeyoung and Dahyun declared their “Film Fridays,” where every week, they choose a movie and binge eat junk food and either cry or make fun of the movie the whole time. It was a tradition they’ve had since freshman year, and they were amazed that they still found movies to watch in their senior year. Some of them are awful, but some become their new favorite movies. Sometimes other friends will come over and join them, like Tzuyu or Jeongyeon, but neither of them can commit to the ever so serious film fridays. It was their thing. And no one could take that from them.

“Whatever. Your lack of taste still amuses me after four years.” Dahyun picked herself up and reached for one of the many bowls on the table before her. Chaeyoung found herself watching her friend's actions without even realizing it. “What are you staring at Chaeng?” Dahyun asked after noticing.

“Huh?” Chaeyoung snapped out of it.

“Weirdo.” Dahyun laughed it off and Chaeyoung let out a breath. What was that? “We don’t watch a lot of romance movies, do we?”

“No you don’t ever let me.” Chaeyoung pouted. She loves these cheesy romantic movies. It was the only romance she ever experienced. She’s never had a boyfriend, something Dahyun doesn’t ever let her forget, she’s never even kissed anyone (That, Dahyun doesn’t know). Her mother claims she’s a late bloomer and it’ll all come with time but Chaeyoung is so tired of waiting. She wouldn’t even know what love was if it hit her in the face. Tzuyu once joked about her being gay, but it’s not like shes felt anything with girls either. Maybe she was one of those people who were just made to be alone forever.

“You’re doing it again.” Dahyun waved her hand in the girl's face to snap her out of her trance. “At least turn the movie on first if you’re just gonna space out.” 

“Sorry, yeah. I guess I’m just tired.” Chaeyoung reached for the remote and scrolled to the movie on Netflix before hitting play and snuggling into her blanket. The movie began playing as the piano music lulled the girls into paying attention. Not even five minutes in, Chaeyoung had to turn up the volume and scold Dahyun for being entirely too loud while eating. Dahyun merely gave the excuse that ‘It’s the only way she can endure this movie.’ 

Chaeyoung was so invested in the film that she almost didn’t notice Dahyun getting up from her spot just to plop down right next to her. She crawled under the blanket with Chaeyoung mumbling how cold it was in the house before cuddling up to the younger. They always did this. It was nothing new. They were always very affectionate with each other.

So why was Chaeyoung suddenly burning up?

Chaeyoung couldn’t tell how much time had passed. She was much too busy trying to focus on the movie and not Dahyun’s bare leg pressed against hers. Not Dahyun’s head resting on her shoulder. Not the way she could see Dahyun smiling out of the corner of her eye anytime the couple on screen would kiss. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t working. She was the one who picked this movie and now she wasn’t even watching it. Jeongyeon recommended it and now she had to pretend that she paid super close attention to it. 

But why did Dahyun look so invested in the film? She protested it several times before but now she was more interested in it than Chaeyoung. Did she realize just how much of her was touching Chaeyoung?? How close they were at this moment?? No. They’ve been friends for so long. This was probably just another platonic thing for her. As it should be for Chaeyoung. 

Why was Chaeyoung burning up? Like she thought before, they are just friends. Chaeyoung was just overreacting because she’s been thinking too much and they were watching a romantic movie. That’s all. 

That’s what she thought. Until the love scene came on. There had been one earlier in the movie, but Dahyun wasn’t practically on top of her at that point. Chaeyoung couldn’t get herself to look at the screen. But god knows she couldn’t look at her friend. She sharply turned her head towards the kitchen, the opposite way from Dahyun. She was stupid to think that the girl wouldn’t notice.

“What’s wrong??” Dahyun asked while lifting her head up, genuinely concerned.

“Nothing, I just thought I heard something.” Chaeyoung made an excuse, still facing the kitchen.

“Don’t tell me,” Dahyun started, Chaeyoung’s body stiff as a rock. “You’re embarressed that they’re having sex.” 

“What are you talking about Dahyun? I’m not a little kid.”

“Then watch the screen.”

Chaeyoung tried. She did. But when the camera caught a glimpse of the woman’s chest, she found herself looking at the floor.

“I knew it.” Dahyun teased. “Come on it isn’t bad. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.” 

“I mean…” Chaeyoung began. She never told Dahyun she’s never been with anyone before. She didn’t want another piece of information out there to be made fun of. Dahyun meant well, she was only teasing, but it still didn’t feel great. 

“Wait, pause.” Dahyun did just that as she looked at the girl before her in disbelief. “I know you don’t date, but you’ve never been with a guy before?? You always act so cool and stuff, I just figured-”

“Nope. Never.” Chaeyoung sighed. “I’m just naturally that smooth.” 

“But you told me before about that guy from our chem class.”

“I lied. I didn’t want you to think I was a loser. I don’t know anything about guys or girls or love or anything.” She raised her voice slightly in annoyance. “I’ve never even kissed someone, let alone had sex.”

“Are you kidding me? Son Chaeyoung I thought you were a total player.”

“Well, I’m not, okay?” Chaeyoung raised her voice, even more, making Dahyun sink a little in her spot. 

“Why are you so upset? There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m not exactly experienced anyways. Plenty of people our age aren’t. It’s okay.” Dahyun tried to reassure the girl after seeing how upset she was.

“Because. I don’t know what love is and I’m afraid I never will. All I know is these stupid movies.” Chaeyoung admitted. “I just wanna know what it feels like.”

“Know what  _ what _ feels like?”

“Love, Dahyun.” Chaeyoung let out. “Everyone on the planet knows what love is but me.”

“That’s not true. You just haven’t had your time yet. Someone out there-”

“Maybe there isn’t anyone out there. Maybe I’m meant to be alone forever. Maybe I’ll die a virgin, without even having my first kiss and without even knowing if-”

Chaeyoung was cut off by a pair of hands on her face and lips pressed to her own. Her eyes were wide as she stared at her best friend before her, unable to move. She eventually shut them and began to move her mouth with Dahyun, releasing all thoughts from her mind other than the feeling of Dahyun’s soft lips on hers. The older girl pulled away just as fast as she moved in, a worried expression displayed across her face. Chaeyoung slowly opened her eyes again to meet Dahyun’s.

“I’m sorry.”

“I guess if I die I can at least say I’ve kissed someone.” Chaeyoung smiled slightly, reassuring the other.

“I don’t know why I did that, I just, I don’t know.” Dahyun was still freaking out about her sudden choice.

“It’s okay.”

“You were just there and I thought ‘What if I just kissed her??’ and I did and I-”

“DAHYUN.” She looked up at Chaeyoung. The younger girl just had a smile on her face, noticing that the tables had turned. “Thank you.”

“Thank you?”

Chaeyoung didn’t feel like talking. So simply, she decided to try the kiss again. She slid one of her hands behind Dahyun’s neck and pressed her face into her own once again. She liked kissing. Or maybe she just liked kissing Dahyun. Either way, she relished the moment Dahyun relaxed into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Chaeyoung’s neck. They remained like this for a bit before Chaeyoung pulled away slowly.

“Dahyun, what is love?” She asked, staring expectantly into the others eyes.

Dahyun shook her head before answering, “I don’t know. I don’t think many people know.” She took Chaeyoung’s hand and intertwined their fingers together. “I don’t think you’ll find out from these silly movies though.” She giggled lightly.

“I still like them though.” Chaeyoung pouted.

“Maybe,” Dahyun started, “We can find out together.” 

Chaeyoung only cocked her head in confusion.

“Love, silly. Maybe we can figure out what love is.”

“But aren’t you scared?”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been friends since we were kids. I don’t want to mess anything up. I don’t want to lose my best friend.” Chaeyoung admitted. Things were going so fast, Chaeyoung was struggling to keep up with the situation. First Dahyun kissed her and then she kissed her back, and now her best friend is offering something but Chaeyoung doesn’t fully understand what. But she knows enough to realize that she doesn’t want to lose her.

“Chaeng.” Dahyun was lightly laughing, making Chaeyoung’s heart flutter a bit. “You’ve always been a little slow.” Chaeyoung scoffed in fake offense. “You will always be my best friend. No matter how close we get, how far apart we grow. We are Dubchaeng. We are the swag masters. We are-”

“I get it.” Chaeyoung giggled.

“Exactly. You’ll never lose me. Whether you like it or not.” Dahyun had a hand placed on the others face, not exactly sure what to do, just following what she saw in movies. “I don’t know what I’m doing. And now I know that you don’t either. But I think I know that I like you. And I think that maybe you like me?” 

Chaeyoung sat in silence for just a moment. She wasn’t sure. Dahyun was really pretty. Chaeyoung couldn’t deny that she had thought about it before. How sometimes when they changed together, Chaeyoung would look away, never truly comfortable being around the other naked like normal friends. Just earlier, Chaeyoung almost had a stroke simply because Dahyun was touching her. She just assumed that happened with all girls. Maybe she really was clueless.

She shut her eyes for only a moment before meeting Dahyun’s with a sweet smile. “Sure. Let’s try it.” Dahyun grinned back and pulled Chaeyoung in for a tight embrace. Chaeyoung found herself nuzzled into Dahyun’s neck simply taking in the scent of her new… Lover? Girlfriend? Whatever. Her Dahyun.

Maybe this was love. Maybe they were just simply searching for it together. But whatever it was, Chaeyoung felt incredibly at ease. Like everything was simple and straightforward. She wasn’t embarrassed anymore. From that day on, she stopped worrying about love. She let it come to her. And it did. In the form of a pretty girl who was head over heels for her. 

Love, as it turns out, is finding yourself searching for them in a crowded room without realizing it. Love is wondering what they’re doing at random hours of the day. Love is not being able to focus on anything or anyone because of them. 

They still had movie nights every Friday, because Dahyun vowed that nothing would be different between them. Well except for the makeout sessions for at least half the movie. They decided not to watch anything with subtitles, or a complicated plot anymore since they wouldn’t be paying much attention anyway. Chaeyoung was utterly blissed out with their new life. Who knew a simple confession would get her through her deepest fears and worries of ending up alone. And though they still may be in the back of her mind, as well as the ever occurring thoughts that Dahyun was just being nice and didn’t wanna hurt her feelings, she pushed them away whenever they kissed.

As they grew, Chaeyoung knew that this was love. They shared many firsts together throughout their years. 

First kiss. First time. First love. 

They decided to go to college together, not wanting to separate, even for a short while. They went into film studies, focusing on directing. Who knew the years of film fridays would help their careers as they began to make film reviews with every movie they watched. The two girls graduated with ease. They agreed to move to LA and started writing their own short film, titled, “What Is Love?” 

It was the story of how two girls who didn’t know anything about love, found it together in the strangest of places. Dahyun asked if it was selfish to write a film about their love story but Chaeyoung didn’t care. The story had quite a few differences from the real life couple, but it was metaphorically them, reliving their high school days together. By the end of the days, Dahyun would snuggle up to her girlfriend and hum a tune that was familiar to her. They were so patient with each other. This project was way more work than either of them would have imagined, but at this point, they were determined to see it through, growing stronger every day.

The end result was phenomenal. The cast felt perfect to the girls, and the script flowed perfectly. Rumors of the film had gotten out to critics and eventually the entire community as many people looked forward to seeing the end result. They even got to have a premiere for the release of the film, a red carpet event, and everything. The two had never expected this in a million years, but here they were. The best part, Chaeyoung had a surprise for Dahyun that no one would expect.

The two were giving a speech before the film began to screen, but when Dahyun started to wrap up their speech, Chaeyoung stopped her.

“This film came from our hearts, partly based on our own lives. Dahyun has been my muse for as long as I can remember. She taught me how to love somebody. She taught me what it felt like to be loved. I can never thank her enough for all of the things she’s done for me. She made the first move on me several years ago. And now it’s my turn to be the bold one.” 

Before Dahyun could comprehend what was going on, Chaeyoung was on the ground in front of her with a ring in her hand, looking up to her girlfriend as if she were the night sky, filled with stars. Dahyun had tears in her eyes and nodded vigorously, shouting yes several times before getting down on the ground with Chaeyoung to embrace her. It was just like their first confession, but this time with thousands of people watching them. But to the two lovers, they were the only ones in the world.

“Love is risking everything to be with someone. You would rather die than be without that person. Love is putting them before yourself. Love is knowing somehow that they feel the same way. Love is being there for them, even through the toughest times. Love, simply put, is the fluttering feeling I get in my heart every time I see you. No matter how many times that is. I know what love is. And I love you.” The film faded to black as the credits began to roll. 

Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s hands were interlocked, as both of them had tears running down their face, but a smile across their lips. The entire audience was on their feet, clapping and cheering as loud as they could for all the cast and crew involved in it. But the two remained seated. Dahyun had leaned her head onto her fiance's shoulder and shut her eyes, basking at the moment. Chaeyoung took a single look at her and smiled even wider. She wasn’t a kid anymore, she didn’t have to wonder what love was or what it felt like because as it turns out, love was right in her arms at this very moment.

And it felt damn good.

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Just a cute little thing I started a while ago and decided to finish. I don't like how fast it went, but I'm working on not drawing out my fics too much so! I hope you liked it :] 
> 
> Twitter: @justjeongie


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